"Their coming to America" By DooleyItalian immigrants make up a large majority of immigrants that came to America. Most of them came between 1870 and 1920. During this time alone more than 4,190,000 Italians came to America. Most of them were men who were looking to raise money to send back to their families and they planned on returning back to Italy after they raised enough money. But most of them found themselves staying in America longer than they thought or moving their whole family over to America. Most Italian immigrants came to America in search of work because their country was over crowded and their taxes were high. This was seen throughout Italy but was most pronounced in Sicily which is where a lot of the Italian immigrants came from. They came over on ships and most of them went through Ellis island where they were checked for diseases. Most of them started to work in industrial areas where they worked long hours and weren’t paid that much. For some of them America was what they thought it would be, but they made the best out of it.One famous Italian American artist that influenced America was Joseph Stella. He is called one of the founders of American modernism. He helped create a new form of art which changed America. Another Italian American artist is Virginio Ferrari. He was a sculpter that changed they way statues are made. He worked with many different types of metal and stone that weren’t used that much before him. Many of his sculptures are seen throughout our American citys. Stellas painting “Flowers” has lots of bright colors and many different shapes in it. This painting is not like mosty other paintings that are dull and show pain. This one is happy and is more uplifting. One of Virginio’s sculpture “ Dialogo” is very different than most other sculptures. It is a new shape that Virginio thought of. This shows his creativity and shjows people that it is ok to think differently than others.
Stella was a great artist who decided to paint differently than other artists of his time. He used brighter colors and more modern and dynamic art than everyone else. He wanted to make art that was different than everyone else and move on from other styles. His work affects America because he was the creator of modern art which is now one of the most popular forms of art. Virginio also wanted to be different and move on to a new style of artwork. His sculpting was like nothing anyone had ever seen because he believed that the world was changing ang everything people were using was becoming more elaborite and different looking. So he made his art to match that. I believe he influenced lots of artists and showed them that you don’t have to be like everyone and paint realistic things. His modern and un realistic sculptures became famous and were some of the first of their kind. "Flowers" by Joseph Stella
Virginio Ferrari "Italian Immigration" by Michael Snyder Italian immigration began in the beginning and middle of the 19th century. Between 1820 and 1860 a little over 14,000 Italian immigrants came to the United States. These were mostly northern Italians who were just seeking opportunity. They settled for the most part on the West Coast because of the California Gold Rush and the opportunities it brought. This however wasn’t the majority of Italians immigrating to the United States. Between 1876 and 1924 over 4.5 million Italians immigrated to the United States and over three fourths of them were from southern Italy due to the fact that many southerners were farmers and farmers were very poor in Italy. Young men were the majority of the immigrants because they would immigrate first so they could get a job and send money home to their families in Italy, then at a later point their families would immigrate to the United States. Italian immigrants would go live in slums when they first immigrated, by the early 1900’s the majority of Italian immigrants lived in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago.
Joseph Stella was an Italian immigrant from southern Italy who came to the United States in 1896. He came to the United States and wanted to study medicine but instead went to school to study art. Stella had an interest in the Brooklyn Bridge and one of his most famous paintings is known as “The Bridge.” I choose this because the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the many symbols of New York which is where the majority of Italian immigrants settled. My second piece of art is a photograph by Severo Antonelli. Antonelli came to America at age 14 and had almost immediate success. He opened his own studio at 18 and his photographs received international acclaim. This picture entitled The Vixen is a photo of a now unknown female actress from the early 1900’s. It represents Italian immigrants because when Italians came to America many of them were given new names. Their new names destroyed their old identities and their culture. The Vixen represents all of the unknown Italian identities that are in the United States.
Joseph Stella’s painting; “The Bridge” has a very important theme. When Italian immigrants came to America a majority of them went to live in Brooklyn, New York. It appears his main theme is to show freedom and a new life. To get into Brooklyn one must go across the bridge it is evident that the bridge is a metaphor for the path to freedom for the Italian immigrants. I also feel that Severo Antonelli’s photograph, “The Vixen” has a theme of freedom but in a different meaning. The loss of one’s identity is the cost for freedom. Many immigrants lost their names when they came to this country, however to them, trading in their name for freedom was a great deal.
"The Bridge" by Joseph Stella
antonelli
"The Vixen" by Severo AntonelliMike Snyder's Space!
Geoff's Space!
Italian American Immigrants
The Majority of Italians emigrated from Italy to the United States from around 1870 to the mid 1900's. At the time the Itaians immigrated, there were few job opportunities and much poverty. People were looking for a new way of life. It was a hope for a better future. Everyone was talking about how good America was, and the opportunities available. In 1956, Renato Carasone wrote the song, Tu vuò fà l'americano. It was about how Italian people wished to be American, and do the things that they do; “Drink whisky and soda, and dance to rock n’ roll…” This song was recently remixed into a techno version, We No Speak Americano by Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP. This song was created perhaps to remind of us the mindset of the people in Italy and why they immigrated. The majority of the Italian immigrants who came to the United States, came from Southern Italy. The immigrants traveled by boat to Ellis Island in the New York harbor. Lots of the Italian immigrants who arrived in America together, settled in clusters in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Massachusetts. Most of the people who emigrated had very little money, and were uneducated. They found jobs working as fishermen, seamstresses, shoemakers, fruit vendors, tradesmen, and other blue collar jobs.
The Original version of Tu vuò fà l'americano
By Renato Carosone
The new remixed version is called We No Speak Americano By Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP
Joseph Stella was born in 1880 in Muro Lucano, Italy. At age 19, he emmigrated to America. This piece of artwork, called City Buildings, was painted by Joseph Stella. This piece depicts his impression of New York City and its towering buildings. He was best known for his interpretation if the industrial period in America.Beniamino Bufano (Benjamen) was born in San Fele, Italy and came to America when he was a young boy. He was best known for his granite sculptures. He sculpted a stone statue of St. Francis. Religion is a very important part of Italian lifestyle. Bufano was displaying his devotion to his religion by carving this statue.
City Buildings By Joseph Stella Granite Statue of St. Francis carved by Beniamino Bufano
Stella’s painting is an excellent representation of how a foreign person might see the features of America. This painting and others done by him on a similar topic, are all somewhat abstract. This may be because of how Stella viewed his subject when he first laid eyes on it. When Stella saw these structures for the first time, he thought of them as different or abstract, and therefore painted what he saw. This may apply to every individual person and nationality that enters America. They all come from different places, and because of their past experience in their home country, may see the same things differently. This diverse perspective can inspire different styles of artwork created by immigrants around the world. Religion is also a major inspiration for artwork from different countries around the world. This is why Bufano created this statue of St. Francis, which now resides in Grace Cathedral. Because religion comes first in many nationalities, a large portion of the artwork may be based around religious ideas or values.
Italian American Immigrants
"Psyche and the Sculptor" by Umberto Romano
There was little Italian emigration to the United States before 1870.
However, Italy was now one of the most overcrowded countries in Europe
and many began to consider the possibility of leaving Italy to escape low
wages and high taxes. Most of these immigrants were from rural communities
with very little education. From 1890 to 1900, 655,888 arrived in the United States,
of whom two-thirds were men. A survey carried out that most planned to return once
they had built up some capital.
Most Italians found unskilled work in America's cities. There were large colonies in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore and Detroit.
From 1900 to 1910 over 2,100,00 arrived. Of these, around 40 per cent eventually returned to Italy.
Willing to work long hours on low wages, the Italians now began to rival the Irish for
much of the unskilled work available in industrial areas. This sometimes led to hostilities
breaking out between the two groups of workers. The Italians were also recruited into the
garment industry and by the outbreak of the First World War had replaced the Jews as the main
group in the sweated trades.
After the First World War Italians developed a reputation for becoming criminals.
This was mainly due to high-profile criminals such as Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Joe Masseria,
Albert Anastasia, Salvadore Marazono, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. However, a study in Massachusetts revealed that the Italian-born, who comprised 8.0 per cent of the population of the state, made up only 4.2 per cent of those confined in penal institutions.
The US Department of Justice also estimates that less than .0025 percent of Italian Americans have
anything to do with organized crime.
The Italian Immigration consisted of many people coming to America in a short span of time. From 1880, 4 million Italian immigrants left Italy for a better life in America. This was the peak of Italian immigration, and it ended in 1920. They were considered the “largest of the new immigrants”. The Italians immigrated to America for two main reasons. The reasons were that their homeland was becoming over-crowded and their wages were too low along with the fact that their taxes were too high. When the Italians were arriving, many of them were unskilled workers. Because of this, they had to do the work that nobody else had to do. Some of their jobs were shoe shinning, rag picking, sewer cleaning, and many others. The Italians tended to move into cities because there was plenty of work in there. They all tended to move into the same area, which is how “Little Italy” started. There is a Little Italy in almost every city. Eventually, the Italians began to get better paying jobs such as clerks, mechanics, and carpenters. However, may Italians resorted to crime, so some people considered them criminals because of notorious gangsters such as Al Capone. However, due to the fact that many of them served in WWI, they eventually became accepted. Basically, the Italians had mixed feelings from the current U.S. citizens.
The Italians contributed a lot to art. The first piece of art is a comic book called “Pedro.” It was made by Joe Orlando. This specific piece of art demonstrates that people in Italy had their own way of making art that was different from modern day American writers. This also demonstrates the kind of literature that the Italian people tended to read. It is a good representation of their art. The second piece of art is the lobsters. This was done by Luis Marden. This picture shows how Italians have contributed to modern art. Many people think that modern art has to be very complicated, but Luis Marden and the Italians show that it can be very simple.
http://www.flickr.http:s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_kyh3kn59zY1qzn0deo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1295563179&Signature=%2FJGHEGczVYsAF4RRkxO7NT4I2Sk%3D/photos/83886551@N00/2548321097/Both pieces of artwork show how the Italians have changed American art. The theme of the first picture is Italian culture. The first piece shows how Italians design their books, especially their covers. It shows the entertainment that the Italians enjoy. The second painting is also about Italian culture. One of the most greatly valued Italian foods is surprisingly lobster. So showing that an Italian artist is painting a picture of an Italian food can really lead to a change in the American artistic voice. It can show that Americans can paint pictures of their foods, and can still be considered art. They have greatly changed America and the American artistic voice.
Sabrina's Space
Italian American's
"New York Shopfront" by Joseph Stella
"Last Supper?" by David Campanile
Between 1880 and 1945 there were over four million Italian immigrants coming to the United States. The Italians were the largest immigrant group to come to America from southern and astern Europe. They fled their country because the taxes became too high, and there were better economic opportunities in the United Sates. Also, most of the Italians that came here were from agricultural areas of Italy, so their educations was inadequate and it would be better in America. Most of the immigrants didn’t have much money to start out with, so they came here by boat. Many of these trips were dangerous though, with several occasions where the passengers put in risk of dorwning because of a sinking boat. Once in America the immigrants would move to industrial cities across the country. They were hard working blue collar workers, and many of them returned to Italy with the money they made in America. They made a huge impact in American culture with the establishments of Italian restaurants, Italian-language newspapers, and especially in New York, Italian communities. Many of the immigrants attended Catholic Church. Religion was extremely important to them because it was something they used to keep their spirits up. During the Great Depression they became active members in the Union. During World War II, there was a lot of tension between American citizens and Italians. Because of the Red Scare in the 1920's, questions of foreign policy were overshadowing domestic problems. Many Italians favored democracy and denounced fascism, but others praised Benito Mussolini. This made it hard for the American’s to accept them into the country. Silvana Greene was interviewed about her experience on arriving in America with her three siblings and parents on September 4, 1976, when she was just thirteen years old.
Sabrina: Upon arriving in America, what were your first impressions and thoughts? Silvana: I was mesmerized, everything was very modern, the highways looked enormous to me and the cars were much bigger than I was used to. The most amazing building I saw was the World Trade Center. I saw so many different faces that I was not used to seeing. I was not used to seeing different races. To me, back in a small town in Sicily everyone looked the same. When I came to America it was the first time I’d ever seen a Chinese or African American face. Sabrina: How was school in America? Were there any differences between here and Sicily? Silvana: I hated school. Only because I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know how to speak English yet. But at the end of the school year I was fluent. Since we came to America in the beginning of September, my parents enrolled us in school right away. I remember when the school year first started, me, my sister, and my cousin Margherita would pretend to go to school, wait for my mom to go to work, then go back to my house and cook rice balls. I know it is wrong to skip school, but I really felt out to place sometimes when I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying. What really helped me learn the language was being in my ESL class, where I made friends with kids from different countries. I felt comfortable in that class because just like me, no one else knew how to speak English. And when I got home I would watch the electric company on channel 13. That would help me pronounce the words. Sabrina: Was it hard to make friends? How did your fellow classmates treat you? Silvana: Everyone was very nice to me, I was never bullied. They were very helpful. I felt comfortable being in school because some of the friends I made were Italian, and I was able to talk to them, even when I didn’t know English. Also, my cousins attended the same school I did. They made me feel better about going to school. Sabrina: How did your parents adapt to the lifestyle? Silvana: My parents were able to find employment fairly quickly. We lived in an Italian neighborhood close to our family and we were all able to adapt to the new culture quickly. Sabrina: Were you happy that you lived close to your family and that you had all your siblings with you? Silvana: Yes, being around my family made me feel a lot more comfortable and they basically showed us the ropes when we first moved here. Sabrina: What were your chores around the house? Silvana: Since my parents had to go to work, my sister and I were in charge of our younger brothers. We had to pick them up from school and make sure they did their homework. When we were in Italy my mom taught me how to cook. When we came to America that really paid off because while my parents were at work I was in charge of making my brothers and sister dinner. Sabrina: Did you want to go back to Sicily? When you got here did you ever think you would go back? Silvana: I always wanted to go back. When we first got here I kept asking when we would leave. I was extremely homesick and I missed my friends and family. My parents actually told me that we were only going to stay in America for a short time then go back to Sicily just to keep me quiet. Sabrina: Are you happy you came to America? Silvana: Yes because I have a wonder family and I met my husband who I love very much.
One of the pieces of art chosen was “New York City Shopfront”, a hand drawn sketch by Joseph Stella, and Italian American immigrant who came to New York in 1896. He traveled back and forth between New York and his home town, Muro Lucano in Italy. Joseph’s Italian name is Giuseppe. He was well known for the way he interprets the world around him in his sketches and paintings. The “New York City Shopfront” was made in 1903. The sketch is a little faint, but one can see what the conventional shop front is, and a woman walking toward it. Because the painting is so dark, the lighting and shadows show how Joseph could have felt that New York was a grim place to be. It’s not very clean, and the darkness could represent crime in the city. It shows the darker side of views of America through the eyes of an immigrant. The other piece of artwork is a painting called “Last Supper?” by artist Dario Campanile. He was born in 1948 and as a young child he loved to draw. He was extremely well known in different galleries in Italy. In 1968 Dario moved to London after serving in the army to study English. After he was done there he moved back to Rome, but then the next summer moved to Spain. Dario was now making his work international. He was known in many different countries and people loved his work. After Spain, in 1968, he moved to Los Angeles where his artwork really became a huge success. He opened different galleries, and even across the country, he was able to sell prints of his work. Dario paints beautifully detailed still life, which looks extremely real. “Last Supper?” is a painting of his interpretation of the Last Supper. It has wonderfully bright colors with extremely detailed fruits and artifacts.
The themes in “New York City Shopfront” are mystery and darkness. It shows the gloomy side of New York City life. The immigrants had high standards and high hopes when coming to America, but often the standards were never met and the hope diminished. American art has the same theme sometimes. Artists will try to capture the scenery that people overlook. In New York, foreigners are captivated by the skyscrapers, and the different cultures thrown into one city, but they can often overlook the scary reality of the people living behind the bright lights. The theme in Dario’s work, “Last Supper?” is culture and religion. Although there are different artifacts thrown in the very well know picture, it shows how different cultures mix to form different views and ideas. Religion was extremely important to the Italians, and since most of them were Catholic they knew of the original Last Supper. This is Dario’s version of what he believes different cultures would represent in the Last Supper.
The Italian Immigrants! By Loren Ball The Italian Immigrants came for a plethora of reasons. The crest of the wave of immigrants was from 1870 until 1920. Some came seeking adventure; others were doing fine but thought they would do better in the United States. For the most part however, many came because of the harsh economic and social situations in Italy. In 1870 Italy became a unified country. Many thought that the new government would relieve their current situations. However, the new government ignored the plight of the peasants and did nothing to address the terrible conditions that many were facing in Southern Italy. Eventually, these situations became worse and the immigrants left their homeland. In 1910 alone, over 2 million immigrants made the trip from Italy to the United States. When the immigrants came, they generally moved to areas close to major cities because these area’s have the largest economic opportunity. Most of the immigrants lived around New York City, in the states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The Italians rapidly developed a sense of community and in other words they made homes for themselves. The Italian culture tends to be close knit and supporting of each other. Earlier immigrants who had already settled in the country helped new arrivals find work. Since they all lived in the same areas, Italian communities became known as “Little Italy’s.” The Italian’s started at the bottom of the occupational ladder but soon many made their way up. Most were happy though that they were making more money in their new country than in Italy.
Artist Joseph Stella born in Muro Lucano, Italy was an immigrant from Italy. He arrived in New York in 1896. Initially, he planned to study in medicine but soon found a passion for art. He enrolled in the New York Art Students League. At this school he was taught to depict scenes of vivid realism. He painted “The Bridge” which is really the Brooklyn Bridge. Stella lived in this area at the time and painted it full of colors and crowdedness because that is what he thought of when he thought of New York City. Another artist, Umberto Romano, emigrated from Italy to the New England area when he was a child. He attended many different art schools in both New York and New England. Soon when he grew older he became an instructor. He had a passion for painting different United States presidents. At first he painted the Kennedy family. One of his more famous works was a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. These two artists were chosen because they show a voice for many Italian’s on how they were interested in the United States as well as found the journey exciting and overwhelming.
Abraham Lincoln (Umberto Romano) - The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
The Bridge By Joseph Stella Abraham Lincoln By Umberto Romano
The themes in the artwork are excitement, anxiety and interest. Although these three different adjectives may seem different, the immigrants definitely felt mixed emotions about their journey. In Stella’s painting, “The Bridge,” he shows many different colors which show many different moods. The colors are also very close together to show crowdedness. This crowdedness is because New York City is very crowded and this causes many anxiety because the city is fast paced and a blur. The painting itself looks like a blur because many of the immigrants thought that the entire experience of coming for the better was unreal and it is hard to take in. Romano’s portrait of Abraham Lincoln shows how the immigrants were interested in previous United States history because they wanted to fit in and not be seen as culturally different from the rest of the country. Immigrants came to make the best for their families and would do anything they could for a higher income and a better job and painting previous presidents demonstrates how they thought that knowledge could help them better their lives.
mike d.
There is a long history about Italians working and living outside of the Italian peninsula since ancient times. Between 1900 and WW1 9,000,000 Italians left and either migrated to either north or south America. Most of these immigrants were from southern Italy. Most Italians came here for better opportunities and to make a better, more convenient life style possible for there children. A lot of the things that the Italian immigrants encountered were poverty, famine, and a lot of other negative things. A lot of families lived in small Holmes shared with other families, all sharing the same bathroom. A lot of Italians were ready to work hard for there money, and so they did.
Some things that may stand out in Italian American history is the artwork. There are many Beautiful pieces of art work, such as Angelica DiChiara-Hardin’s Village sunset, and the Antique Loggia. Probably the most prominent Italian American artist that I could think of is Frank Sinatra. His beautiful voice was what gave some people hope, and something to smile about in the 1900’s. Frank sinatra’s songs touch down on the Italian American heart with some of his instant classics such as Mambo Italiano, L-O-V-E, and As Time Goes By.
I chose these two individuals to represent the Italian American arts because it seems that they have had a big impact on what it is today, and there impact was very positive. Some of the themes of artwork are Italian landscapes, singing, and writing music. This artwork has shaped our culture by paving the way to modern music and painting; saying that you can create your own way through life, these people have inspired men, and woman all around the world. saying that Italian Americans have a lot to give and, I think that them and other Italian Americans have had a hand in shaping the world into what it is today.
Dooley's Space!
Stella was a great artist who decided to paint differently than other artists of his time. He used brighter colors and more modern and dynamic art than everyone else. He wanted to make art that was different than everyone else and move on from other styles. His work affects America because he was the creator of modern art which is now one of the most popular forms of art. Virginio also wanted to be different and move on to a new style of artwork. His sculpting was like nothing anyone had ever seen because he believed that the world was changing ang everything people were using was becoming more elaborite and different looking. So he made his art to match that. I believe he influenced lots of artists and showed them that you don’t have to be like everyone and paint realistic things. His modern and un realistic sculptures became famous and were some of the first of their kind.
"Flowers" by Joseph Stella
"Italian Immigration" by Michael Snyder
Italian immigration began in the beginning and middle of the 19th century. Between 1820 and 1860 a little over 14,000 Italian immigrants came to the United States. These were mostly northern Italians who were just seeking opportunity. They settled for the most part on the West Coast because of the California Gold Rush and the opportunities it brought. This however wasn’t the majority of Italians immigrating to the United States. Between 1876 and 1924 over 4.5 million Italians immigrated to the United States and over three fourths of them were from southern Italy due to the fact that many southerners were farmers and farmers were very poor in Italy. Young men were the majority of the immigrants because they would immigrate first so they could get a job and send money home to their families in Italy, then at a later point their families would immigrate to the United States. Italian immigrants would go live in slums when they first immigrated, by the early 1900’s the majority of Italian immigrants lived in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago.
Joseph Stella was an Italian immigrant from southern Italy who came to the United States in 1896. He came to the United States and wanted to study medicine but instead went to school to study art. Stella had an interest in the Brooklyn Bridge and one of his most famous paintings is known as “The Bridge.” I choose this because the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the many symbols of New York which is where the majority of Italian immigrants settled. My second piece of art is a photograph by Severo Antonelli. Antonelli came to America at age 14 and had almost immediate success. He opened his own studio at 18 and his photographs received international acclaim. This picture entitled The Vixen is a photo of a now unknown female actress from the early 1900’s. It represents Italian immigrants because when Italians came to America many of them were given new names. Their new names destroyed their old identities and their culture. The Vixen represents all of the unknown Italian identities that are in the United States.
Joseph Stella’s painting; “The Bridge” has a very important theme. When Italian immigrants came to America a majority of them went to live in Brooklyn, New York. It appears his main theme is to show freedom and a new life. To get into Brooklyn one must go across the bridge it is evident that the bridge is a metaphor for the path to freedom for the Italian immigrants. I also feel that Severo Antonelli’s photograph, “The Vixen” has a theme of freedom but in a different meaning. The loss of one’s identity is the cost for freedom. Many immigrants lost their names when they came to this country, however to them, trading in their name for freedom was a great deal.
Geoff's Space!
Italian American Immigrants
The Majority of Italians emigrated from Italy to the United States from around 1870 to the mid 1900's. At the time the Itaians immigrated, there were few job opportunities and much poverty. People were looking for a new way of life. It was a hope for a better future. Everyone was talking about how good America was, and the opportunities available. In 1956, Renato Carasone wrote the song, Tu vuò fà l'americano. It was about how Italian people wished to be American, and do the things that they do; “Drink whisky and soda, and dance to rock n’ roll…” This song was recently remixed into a techno version, We No Speak Americano by Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP. This song was created perhaps to remind of us the mindset of the people in Italy and why they immigrated. The majority of the Italian immigrants who came to the United States, came from Southern Italy. The immigrants traveled by boat to Ellis Island in the New York harbor. Lots of the Italian immigrants who arrived in America together, settled in clusters in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Massachusetts. Most of the people who emigrated had very little money, and were uneducated. They found jobs working as fishermen, seamstresses, shoemakers, fruit vendors, tradesmen, and other blue collar jobs.
The Original version of Tu vuò fà l'americano
By Renato Carosone
The new remixed version is called We No Speak Americano
By Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP
Joseph Stella was born in 1880 in Muro Lucano, Italy. At age 19, he emmigrated to America. This piece of artwork, called City Buildings, was painted by Joseph Stella. This piece depicts his impression of New York City and its towering buildings. He was best known for his interpretation if the industrial period in America.Beniamino Bufano (Benjamen) was born in San Fele, Italy and came to America when he was a young boy. He was best known for his granite sculptures. He sculpted a stone statue of St. Francis. Religion is a very important part of Italian lifestyle. Bufano was displaying his devotion to his religion by carving this statue.
City Buildings By Joseph StellaGranite Statue of St. Francis carved by Beniamino Bufano
Stella’s painting is an excellent representation of how a foreign person might see the features of America. This painting and others done by him on a similar topic, are all somewhat abstract. This may be because of how Stella viewed his subject when he first laid eyes on it. When Stella saw these structures for the first time, he thought of them as different or abstract, and therefore painted what he saw. This may apply to every individual person and nationality that enters America. They all come from different places, and because of their past experience in their home country, may see the same things differently. This diverse perspective can inspire different styles of artwork created by immigrants around the world. Religion is also a major inspiration for artwork from different countries around the world. This is why Bufano created this statue of St. Francis, which now resides in Grace Cathedral. Because religion comes first in many nationalities, a large portion of the artwork may be based around religious ideas or values.
Italian American Immigrants
There was little Italian emigration to the United States before 1870.
However, Italy was now one of the most overcrowded countries in Europe
and many began to consider the possibility of leaving Italy to escape low
wages and high taxes. Most of these immigrants were from rural communities
with very little education. From 1890 to 1900, 655,888 arrived in the United States,
of whom two-thirds were men. A survey carried out that most planned to return once
they had built up some capital.
Most Italians found unskilled work in America's cities.
There were large colonies in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore and Detroit.
From 1900 to 1910 over 2,100,00 arrived. Of these, around 40 per cent eventually returned to Italy.
Willing to work long hours on low wages, the Italians now began to rival the Irish for
much of the unskilled work available in industrial areas. This sometimes led to hostilities
breaking out between the two groups of workers. The Italians were also recruited into the
garment industry and by the outbreak of the First World War had replaced the Jews as the main
group in the sweated trades.
After the First World War Italians developed a reputation for becoming criminals.
This was mainly due to high-profile criminals such as Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Joe Masseria,
Albert Anastasia, Salvadore Marazono, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello.
However, a study in Massachusetts revealed that the Italian-born, who comprised 8.0
per cent of the population of the state, made up only 4.2 per cent of those confined in penal institutions.
The US Department of Justice also estimates that less than .0025 percent of Italian Americans have
anything to do with organized crime.
Jeffs Space
Picture done by Luis Marden (Italian Guy)
Drawing by Joe Orlando (Another Italian Guy)
The Italian Immigration consisted of many people coming to America in a short span of time. From 1880, 4 million Italian immigrants left Italy for a better life in America. This was the peak of Italian immigration, and it ended in 1920. They were considered the “largest of the new immigrants”. The Italians immigrated to America for two main reasons. The reasons were that their homeland was becoming over-crowded and their wages were too low along with the fact that their taxes were too high. When the Italians were arriving, many of them were unskilled workers. Because of this, they had to do the work that nobody else had to do. Some of their jobs were shoe shinning, rag picking, sewer cleaning, and many others. The Italians tended to move into cities because there was plenty of work in there. They all tended to move into the same area, which is how “Little Italy” started. There is a Little Italy in almost every city. Eventually, the Italians began to get better paying jobs such as clerks, mechanics, and carpenters. However, may Italians resorted to crime, so some people considered them criminals because of notorious gangsters such as Al Capone. However, due to the fact that many of them served in WWI, they eventually became accepted. Basically, the Italians had mixed feelings from the current U.S. citizens.
The Italians contributed a lot to art. The first piece of art is a comic book called “Pedro.” It was made by Joe Orlando. This specific piece of art demonstrates that people in Italy had their own way of making art that was different from modern day American writers. This also demonstrates the kind of literature that the Italian people tended to read. It is a good representation of their art. The second piece of art is the lobsters. This was done by Luis Marden. This picture shows how Italians have contributed to modern art. Many people think that modern art has to be very complicated, but Luis Marden and the Italians show that it can be very simple.
http://www.flickr.http:s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_kyh3kn59zY1qzn0deo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1295563179&Signature=%2FJGHEGczVYsAF4RRkxO7NT4I2Sk%3D/photos/83886551@N00/2548321097/Both pieces of artwork show how the Italians have changed American art. The theme of the first picture is Italian culture. The first piece shows how Italians design their books, especially their covers. It shows the entertainment that the Italians enjoy. The second painting is also about Italian culture. One of the most greatly valued Italian foods is surprisingly lobster. So showing that an Italian artist is painting a picture of an Italian food can really lead to a change in the American artistic voice. It can show that Americans can paint pictures of their foods, and can still be considered art. They have greatly changed America and the American artistic voice.
Sabrina's Space
Italian American's
Between 1880 and 1945 there were over four million Italian immigrants coming to the United States. The Italians were the largest immigrant group to come to America from southern and astern Europe. They fled their country because the taxes became too high, and there were better economic opportunities in the United Sates. Also, most of the Italians that came here were from agricultural areas of Italy, so their educations was inadequate and it would be better in America. Most of the immigrants didn’t have much money to start out with, so they came here by boat. Many of these trips were dangerous though, with several occasions where the passengers put in risk of dorwning because of a sinking boat. Once in America the immigrants would move to industrial cities across the country. They were hard working blue collar workers, and many of them returned to Italy with the money they made in America. They made a huge impact in American culture with the establishments of Italian restaurants, Italian-language newspapers, and especially in New York, Italian communities. Many of the immigrants attended Catholic Church. Religion was extremely important to them because it was something they used to keep their spirits up. During the Great Depression they became active members in the Union. During World War II, there was a lot of tension between American citizens and Italians. Because of the Red Scare in the 1920's, questions of foreign policy were overshadowing domestic problems. Many Italians favored democracy and denounced fascism, but others praised Benito Mussolini. This made it hard for the American’s to accept them into the country.
Silvana Greene was interviewed about her experience on arriving in America with her three siblings and parents on September 4, 1976, when she was just thirteen years old.
Sabrina: Upon arriving in America, what were your first impressions and thoughts?
Silvana: I was mesmerized, everything was very modern, the highways looked enormous to me and the cars were much bigger than I was used to. The most amazing building I saw was the World Trade Center. I saw so many different faces that I was not used to seeing. I was not used to seeing different races. To me, back in a small town in Sicily everyone looked the same. When I came to America it was the first time I’d ever seen a Chinese or African American face.
Sabrina: How was school in America? Were there any differences between here and Sicily?
Silvana: I hated school. Only because I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know how to speak English yet. But at the end of the school year I was fluent. Since we came to America in the beginning of September, my parents enrolled us in school right away. I remember when the school year first started, me, my sister, and my cousin Margherita would pretend to go to school, wait for my mom to go to work, then go back to my house and cook rice balls. I know it is wrong to skip school, but I really felt out to place sometimes when I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying. What really helped me learn the language was being in my ESL class, where I made friends with kids from different countries. I felt comfortable in that class because just like me, no one else knew how to speak English. And when I got home I would watch the electric company on channel 13. That would help me pronounce the words.
Sabrina: Was it hard to make friends? How did your fellow classmates treat you?
Silvana: Everyone was very nice to me, I was never bullied. They were very helpful. I felt comfortable being in school because some of the friends I made were Italian, and I was able to talk to them, even when I didn’t know English. Also, my cousins attended the same school I did. They made me feel better about going to school.
Sabrina: How did your parents adapt to the lifestyle?
Silvana: My parents were able to find employment fairly quickly. We lived in an Italian neighborhood close to our family and we were all able to adapt to the new culture quickly.
Sabrina: Were you happy that you lived close to your family and that you had all your siblings with you?
Silvana: Yes, being around my family made me feel a lot more comfortable and they basically showed us the ropes when we first moved here.
Sabrina: What were your chores around the house?
Silvana: Since my parents had to go to work, my sister and I were in charge of our younger brothers. We had to pick them up from school and make sure they did their homework. When we were in Italy my mom taught me how to cook. When we came to America that really paid off because while my parents were at work I was in charge of making my brothers and sister dinner.
Sabrina: Did you want to go back to Sicily? When you got here did you ever think you would go back?
Silvana: I always wanted to go back. When we first got here I kept asking when we would leave. I was extremely homesick and I missed my friends and family. My parents actually told me that we were only going to stay in America for a short time then go back to Sicily just to keep me quiet.
Sabrina: Are you happy you came to America?
Silvana: Yes because I have a wonder family and I met my husband who I love very much.
One of the pieces of art chosen was “New York City Shopfront”, a hand drawn sketch by Joseph Stella, and Italian American immigrant who came to New York in 1896. He traveled back and forth between New York and his home town, Muro Lucano in Italy. Joseph’s Italian name is Giuseppe. He was well known for the way he interprets the world around him in his sketches and paintings. The “New York City Shopfront” was made in 1903. The sketch is a little faint, but one can see what the conventional shop front is, and a woman walking toward it. Because the painting is so dark, the lighting and shadows show how Joseph could have felt that New York was a grim place to be. It’s not very clean, and the darkness could represent crime in the city. It shows the darker side of views of America through the eyes of an immigrant. The other piece of artwork is a painting called “Last Supper?” by artist Dario Campanile. He was born in 1948 and as a young child he loved to draw. He was extremely well known in different galleries in Italy. In 1968 Dario moved to London after serving in the army to study English. After he was done there he moved back to Rome, but then the next summer moved to Spain. Dario was now making his work international. He was known in many different countries and people loved his work. After Spain, in 1968, he moved to Los Angeles where his artwork really became a huge success. He opened different galleries, and even across the country, he was able to sell prints of his work. Dario paints beautifully detailed still life, which looks extremely real. “Last Supper?” is a painting of his interpretation of the Last Supper. It has wonderfully bright colors with extremely detailed fruits and artifacts.
The themes in “New York City Shopfront” are mystery and darkness. It shows the gloomy side of New York City life. The immigrants had high standards and high hopes when coming to America, but often the standards were never met and the hope diminished. American art has the same theme sometimes. Artists will try to capture the scenery that people overlook. In New York, foreigners are captivated by the skyscrapers, and the different cultures thrown into one city, but they can often overlook the scary reality of the people living behind the bright lights. The theme in Dario’s work, “Last Supper?” is culture and religion. Although there are different artifacts thrown in the very well know picture, it shows how different cultures mix to form different views and ideas. Religion was extremely important to the Italians, and since most of them were Catholic they knew of the original Last Supper. This is Dario’s version of what he believes different cultures would represent in the Last Supper.
The Italian Immigrants!
By Loren Ball
The Italian Immigrants came for a plethora of reasons. The crest of the wave of immigrants was from 1870 until 1920. Some came seeking adventure; others were doing fine but thought they would do better in the United States. For the most part however, many came because of the harsh economic and social situations in Italy. In 1870 Italy became a unified country. Many thought that the new government would relieve their current situations. However, the new government ignored the plight of the peasants and did nothing to address the terrible conditions that many were facing in Southern Italy. Eventually, these situations became worse and the immigrants left their homeland. In 1910 alone, over 2 million immigrants made the trip from Italy to the United States. When the immigrants came, they generally moved to areas close to major cities because these area’s have the largest economic opportunity. Most of the immigrants lived around New York City, in the states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The Italians rapidly developed a sense of community and in other words they made homes for themselves. The Italian culture tends to be close knit and supporting of each other. Earlier immigrants who had already settled in the country helped new arrivals find work. Since they all lived in the same areas, Italian communities became known as “Little Italy’s.” The Italian’s started at the bottom of the occupational ladder but soon many made their way up. Most were happy though that they were making more money in their new country than in Italy.
Artist Joseph Stella born in Muro Lucano, Italy was an immigrant from Italy. He arrived in New York in 1896. Initially, he planned to study in medicine but soon found a passion for art. He enrolled in the New York Art Students League. At this school he was taught to depict scenes of vivid realism. He painted “The Bridge” which is really the Brooklyn Bridge. Stella lived in this area at the time and painted it full of colors and crowdedness because that is what he thought of when he thought of New York City. Another artist, Umberto Romano, emigrated from Italy to the New England area when he was a child. He attended many different art schools in both New York and New England. Soon when he grew older he became an instructor. He had a passion for painting different United States presidents. At first he painted the Kennedy family. One of his more famous works was a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. These two artists were chosen because they show a voice for many Italian’s on how they were interested in the United States as well as found the journey exciting and overwhelming.
The Bridge By Joseph Stella Abraham Lincoln By Umberto Romano
The themes in the artwork are excitement, anxiety and interest. Although these three different adjectives may seem different, the immigrants definitely felt mixed emotions about their journey. In Stella’s painting, “The Bridge,” he shows many different colors which show many different moods. The colors are also very close together to show crowdedness. This crowdedness is because New York City is very crowded and this causes many anxiety because the city is fast paced and a blur. The painting itself looks like a blur because many of the immigrants thought that the entire experience of coming for the better was unreal and it is hard to take in. Romano’s portrait of Abraham Lincoln shows how the immigrants were interested in previous United States history because they wanted to fit in and not be seen as culturally different from the rest of the country. Immigrants came to make the best for their families and would do anything they could for a higher income and a better job and painting previous presidents demonstrates how they thought that knowledge could help them better their lives.
mike d.
There is a long history about Italians working and living outside of the Italian peninsula since ancient times. Between 1900 and WW1 9,000,000 Italians left and either migrated to either north or south America. Most of these immigrants were from southern Italy. Most Italians came here for better opportunities and to make a better, more convenient life style possible for there children. A lot of the things that the Italian immigrants encountered were poverty, famine, and a lot of other negative things. A lot of families lived in small Holmes shared with other families, all sharing the same bathroom. A lot of Italians were ready to work hard for there money, and so they did.
Some things that may stand out in Italian American history is the artwork. There are many Beautiful pieces of art work, such as Angelica DiChiara-Hardin’s Village sunset, and the Antique Loggia. Probably the most prominent Italian American artist that I could think of is Frank Sinatra. His beautiful voice was what gave some people hope, and something to smile about in the 1900’s. Frank sinatra’s songs touch down on the Italian American heart with some of his instant classics such as Mambo Italiano, L-O-V-E, and As Time Goes By.
I chose these two individuals to represent the Italian American arts because it seems that they have had a big impact on what it is today, and there impact was very positive. Some of the themes of artwork are Italian landscapes, singing, and writing music. This artwork has shaped our culture by paving the way to modern music and painting; saying that you can create your own way through life, these people have inspired men, and woman all around the world. saying that Italian Americans have a lot to give and, I think that them and other Italian Americans have had a hand in shaping the world into what it is today.